It is well known that the process of forming metal wire, commonly referred to as wire drawing, uses lubricants. Wire drawing is a metalworking process used to reduce across-section of a wire by pulling the wire through a single, or series of, drawing die(s). The process for drawing wire is relatively simple. First, the wire is prepared by shrinking a first end by hammering, filing, rolling or swaging, so that the wire will fit through the die. Second, the wire is pulled through the die. As the wire is pulled through the die, a volume of the wire remains the same. So, as the diameter of the wire decreases, the length of the wire increases.
Lubrication in the drawing process is essential for maintaining a good surface finish and extending the useful life of the (Refs). Different methods of lubrication include, for example, wet drawing where the die(s) and wire are completely immersed in lubricant, dry drawing where the wire passes through a container of lubricant which coats the surface of the wire, and metal coating where the wire is coated with a soft metal which acts as a solid lubricant. The lubricants can include, for example, liquid lubricants such as an oil or copper (II) sulfate solution, or dry film lubricants among many others. Regardless of the type of lubricant utilized in the wire drawing process used to form the metal wire, lubricants can attract debris which adheres to the wire. Processes utilizing the metal wire which are sensitive to such debris can be negatively affected by the presence of the debris. One such process is the manufacturing of vehicles.
Accordingly, a need exists for a simple and inexpensive way to overcome issues related to the use of lubricants in the wire drawing process used to form metal wire. Ideally, the debris adhered to the metal wire due to the presence of the lubricant can be stripped from the metal wire. It would be desirable if a device could be utilized to strip the debris from the metal wire. Even more, it would be desirable if the metal wire being striped did not require threading through the stripping device.